Azariah Carron
Brother Azariah Carron is a Word Bearer in service of the Imperium of Sidhae. His religious and patriotic fervor deemed extreme even by Sidh standards, Brother Azariah is admired and reviled in equal measures by the authorities and Sidh citizenry. Background Azariah Carron was activated in 2587, too late to see action in the Reconquest Wars. The residents of his homeworld Ovidia Secundus had long been notorious for harboring very liberal, at times even borderline-heretical views, which included general skepticism towards the belligerent Imperial foreign policy and general rejection of anti-alien and especially anti-human doctrines and policies. These two factors would largely come to shape young Azariah's future personality as the polar opposite of what his co-worlders were generally like. Eager to prove himself in military service despite the absence of any major wars and constantly derided by his superiors over his Ovidian background and their perceived political unreliability, the ambitious young Sidh came to embrace the most extreme interpretations of the Word in order to demonstrate his ideological orthodoxy. Azariah eventually got his chance to prove himself during the Liberation of Helion Prime. Personally witnessing the many atrocities visited upon the Sidh populace by the human and Skargh invaders, he would come to hate humans and aliens with an even greater passion. It was during this time that his talent for inspiring patriotic fervor in others was noticed, and being already known as a zealous adherent to the teachings of the Word, Azariah was selected for training as a Word Bearer. In the coming years, Azariah would study every science and art that his prospective office of Word Bearer would require, mastering psychology and rhetoric as well as memorizing the Word and various supplementary sources. He was eventually inducted into the ranks of Word Bearers as part of the Brotherhood of Ardent Heart, a chapter of Word Bearers known for their ultra-conservative interpretation of the Word. Azariah left military service in the aftermath of the Altoris campaign, disgusted by what he perceived as weakness on part of the Imperial military, which had generally treated populations of subjugated Altorisians with uncharacteristic lenience. To him, this was merely evidence of corruption and a lack of faith in the very ranks of those who were supposed to bring the Emperor's righteous wrath and retribution to the enemies of the Imperium. After retiring from the Army, Brother Azariah would continue to make a living as an itinerant preacher of the Word, a common practice for Word Bearers no longer in active service. His firebrand sermons would eventually attract him quite a following, although his extremist rhetoric would also earn him the ire of Imperial authorities on numerous worlds where the local governments would try to keep peace with sizable populations of subjugated humans. This would consequently force him to travel between worlds frequently, the local authorities often kindly asking the zealous preacher to leave before his incendiary speeches could inflame violent riots, something that would happen on more than one occasion with his own enthusiastic participation. Azariah would amass quite a following on Scatach Prime, skillfuly exploiting the already-existent tensions between Sidhae and the human ghetto-dwellers of Bayit Gadol. His hatemongering culminated in a violent anti-human pogrom that required reinforcements of Imperial Navy marines for the authorities to suppress. He was consequently forced to leave Scatach in the aftermath of the Lenin Incident. Personality Brother Azariah is an archetypal firebrand preacher - fanatical to the point of madness and rabidly-intolerant towards those who do not share his beliefs or his enthusiasm in them. His fanatical devotion to the Word stems in his background - hailing from a very liberal and tolerant (by Sidh standards) planet, Azariah used to be derided by his superiors as a borderline-heretic and constantly overlooked for promotions in his earlier career, leading to his bitter resentment of liberal interpretations of the Word and especially everything having to do with his homeworld. In fact, merely bringing up his Ovidian ancestry or anything having to do with Ovidia Secundus is often enough to send him in rage. Azariah might be many things, but a hypocrite he is certainly not. He makes a point in adhering to the teachings of the Word in all aspects of his life to the letter, something that has won him many followers and disciples along with his firebrand rhetoric. An example of this is his willingness to assault Sidhae who act contrary to the tenets of the Word as well as human infidels, or the tranquil and dignified manner by which he accepts being sentenced to flogging for inciting a riot, accepting punishment without protest since the laws of the Emperor demand so. That being said, he is not above consorting with ideological enemies when it serves his cause, as is attested by his agreement to aid the Sicarii in taking over the Bayit Gadol ghetto (albeit extracted under duress from Domestic Security). While certainly a fanatic, Azariah doesn't necessarily let faith blind his reason, certainly not when the cause of faith would be better served by pragmatic action. As could be expected from someone of his position, Brother Azariah is highly-charismatic and passionate about his faith, able to incite comparable patriotic and religious fervor in his audience with his skillfuly-woven speeches. His notorious sermons are a product of natural charisma and fine-tuned application of scientific study in equal measure. Outside of his rage-filled public performances, Brother Azariah is actually a rather mild-mannered and soft-spoken man more in line of what one would expected from a warrior-monk. While still blunt and to the point by human standards, such manner is not really out of line with the average Sidh. Brother Azariah has attained mastery over his body and its passions over countless hours of meditation and penance, no longer being tempted by things like fame or secular power, his sole focus being serving the Sidh faith. In practice, this mastery translates to an inhuman pain tolerance even by Sidh standards - in the aftermath of the pogrom in Bayit Gadol ghetto, Brother Azariah endures savage flogging without slightest outward expression of pain.